Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northwich

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settled. The key-person system is embedded and children form secure attachments with staff. Babies beam at staff as they copy and sing action songs.

Toddlers listen attentively to stories and use magnifying glasses to identify different minibeasts. Older children enjoy acting out their favourite books using hand puppets.The manager has devised a carefully constructed curriculum that is rich in language and promotes physical development.

Children develop positive attitudes to their play and they are eager to learn. For instance, they are engrossed while making their own play dough and exploring th...e texture of the mixture. Staff extend children's learning by discussing how the mixture feels, what it smells like and how it looks.

Children enjoy choosing different scents to add to the mixture before scooping it into cake cases.Children are becoming independent learners. Younger children feed themselves and clean their own paintbrushes in the sink.

Older children put their own coats on, try to zip them up, and serve their own food at mealtimes. Children's behaviour is good. Staff have embedded the rules of the nursery and children play well together, sharing toys and resources.

Robust systems are in place to ensure children's seamless transitions into subsequent rooms in the nursery and eventual move to school.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The manager adopts a curriculum that fully promotes outdoor learning and experiences. Children in the baby room enjoy riding around the outdoor area on tricycles and practising climbing up and down on equipment.

Toddlers enjoy balancing on one leg and practise their running and hopping skills. Older children enjoying social games with their friends. They take turns to count to 20 while playing hide and seek.

Children benefit from meaningful learning experiences that are planned using their interests. Children readily share their own experiences with their peers. Staff make good use of effective techniques such as 'chatterboxes' to encourage communication, and they introduce new vocabulary to children as they play.

They extend children's knowledge of the world, for example, as they set up an African safari role-play area for children to explore. Children learn about different cultures and enjoy growing a range of vegetables in the garden.Children's uniqueness is celebrated.

All children, including those who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), thrive in this fully inclusive environment.Staff track the development of all children. This ensures that they can plan for their next steps.

Effective partnerships with professionals are improving staff's knowledge of how to support children, including those who speak English as an additional language and those with SEND.Self-evaluation includes the views of staff, children and parents. A bicycle and scooter park has recently been set up at the nursery to encourage children to be as physically active as possible.

Staff have also recently set up a lending library for children to borrow books. Parents enjoy using the library room to read stories to their children before going home. Children enjoy their healthy and social mealtimes.

They develop a positive attitude to leading a healthy lifestyle and enjoy communicating which foods are good and bad for them.Children make good progress from their starting points. They are working at a level typical for their age and they gain the key skills needed for the next stage in their development and their eventual move to school.

Parents are grateful for the care their children receive and they praise the nursery for the 'highly skilled', 'approachable' and 'friendly' staff. Although the staff are helpful in encouraging reading at home, they do not help parents understand how to support other aspects of children's learning at home.While staff have good opportunities to access online training and for general professional development, they are not supported to develop the expertise needed to raise the quality of teaching and learning to the highest levels.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of what constitutes a safeguarding concern. They understand the procedures to follow to protect children from harm.

The manager ensures staff keep their knowledge up to date through attending training courses and accessing online training. When appointing new staff, the manager follows thorough recruitment processes. This ensures staff are suitable and have the necessary skills to fulfil their roles in the nursery.

Staff know what to do should they have concerns about the conduct of a colleague. Staff are vigilant about children's safety and supervise them well as they play.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support parents more effectively to help them extend their children's learning at home develop further professional development opportunities for staff to raise teaching and learning even higher.